The McLovins Say A Kind Of Farewell To Hartford

The McLovins shuffle the deck with a move to NYC. See them in Hartford before they depart.

Hometown fans were amused over the winter (I was, anyway) when Wisconsin and Colorado audiences tweeted about hearing Hartford's McLovins for the first time.

Soon, Twitter reports may be all we get: On Friday, May 8, the McLovins will play their last Hartford gig — at Arch Street Tavern, fittingly — for the foreseeable future.

The band will continue to practice in Bloomfield, drummer/vocalist Jake Huffman said, but he's personally moving to New York City on June 1. The show at Arch Street, where they spent a month-long residency last fall (and where Huffman formerly worked), is a goodbye to friends and family.

"We're growing older and touring, and we have other responsibilities and stuff, and I probably won't be around to see all my friends," Huffman said. "My family has pretty much moved away from the area, too. It is going to be a little bit of a farewell show of sorts."

The members of the McLovins grew up on Connecticut stages. In 2008, as a trio of teenagers with guitarist Jeff Howard, Huffman and bassist Jason Ott earned respect as musicians by covering Phish's "You Enjoy Myself"; a YouTube video went viral. Howard left in 2011, after three albums, and guitarists Atticus Kelly and Justin Berger quickly joined. The quartet recorded "Beautiful Lights," a new album, and toured the south, playing 17 shows in three weeks.

This past (brutal) winter, the McLovins traveled west, with a dedicated sound man provided by Telefunken. The tour, Huffman said, "felt more like a job, but that was a good thing. It wasn't all fun and games. We were there for a reason." Outside a Madison, Wisconsin, venue in January, the wind chill plummeted to 30 below. "I remember walking outside, and spit on my teeth froze. But we made it out to Colorado and we had some amazing shows along the way. We met some amazing people. It was a special time."

The trip was also humbling. "Sometimes we'd go out to shows and there wouldn't be a lot of people there," Huffman said. "But we always tried to give it 110 percent, just really show people who we are and play the best we can, and even if there were only 10 people in there, we'd try to connect with those 10 people."

In New York, Huffman will continue to work as a composer for "Sesame Street" and plans to apply for jobs at live music venues. "New York City feels right," he said. "I'm trying to expand what I'm doing in my field, more than just the McLovins," he said. "I just want to try new things and learn from different experiences. There are so many job opportunities in the city. The McLovins is going to be first and foremost, but when we're not touring I like to do different things and to learn by doing."

For the band, the move to NYC is a numbers game. "There are a lot more people," Huffman said. "What I've seen in the last seven years in the Hartford music scene: it really has grown from when the band first started. It gives me hope that every year more and more people are going out to see live music ... But in New York, there are more people going out. That's just how it is."

In the short-term, not much will change; travel between Hartford and New York is fairly pain-free. The McLovins plan to record a new studio album this summer, and they know their touring schedule way in advance. "I have to be more diligent about being more organized, but that's just a part of growing up and being more professional," Huffman said.

At Arch Street on Friday, expect no opening act, two long sets and a special guest. They might return to play a Hartford show once or twice a year. And if things don't work out in New York, Huffman added, he won't stay.

"A lot of people go to New York and move back to where they came from," Huffman said. "This could end up like that. But if I don't try, if the band doesn't try, we'll never know. I think it's important."

THE MCLOVINS play Arch Street Tavern in Hartford on Friday, May 8. Showtime is 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 and $10. For more information, visit archstreettavern.com.